Sorceress' Elegy
by Winged Sorceress
Summary: Not to make it sound like this fic has never been written before, but everything is falling apart and the world our heroes have come to know is drastically changing.
1. Motion of a Dead Future

~*Yay! Okay, I promise that this time I will not delete the story. It's just as the months go by, I get a little bit smarter and realize that some of my writing sucks. But I'm gonna stick with it this time. This is the fourth time that I've started this story over from scratch. I will keep with it! I guarentee it. For those of you who are not farmiliar with this story, (you and the rest of the world,) you do not know the main plot and that is good thing. I must warn you though, to not get too attached. (I know I flatter myself too much.) Any Rinoa lover, espessially myself would find this story very depressing and need to take long breaks in between writing chapters. I'm not saying that this is not a fic for Rinoa lovers, it's not a fic for Rinoa lovers who lose sleep over bad things happening to her, but she isn't a slut or something stupid like that. Ahhhhh! Rambling! Emma, stop! Well, enough of that. You all know that Squaresoft owns the people that appear in Final Fantasy Eight, I don't need to tell you that, and let's get started with Chapter One.*~

Raijin was nodding off. It was quite understandable as he had not been sleeping well lately, but never the less it was very bad because he was behind the wheel of a rented car. The dark afternoon sky and pelting rain above their heads didn't help him wake up. Fujin's head was softly resting against the window. She wasn't sleeping, but her conscience was flickering between the boundries. Fujin's uncharacteristic silence allowed Raijin to think for once. Every now and then, he did have something insightful to think about. He blinked himself out of sleep for the hundredth time and kept his heavy eyelids wide open, not daring to let them shut, even just a little bit.

They had been driving for two hours now; it was nine in the morning, a Saturday. If they had anticipated the weather, they would have left earlier to arrive at their orginal goal of two. There was no way they would get there by then, and they would probably have to reschedual for six o'clock that evening. Or they could be overbooked and have to stay at the inn at Winhill or...the scenarios were endless.

He hadn't even considered what would happen should they get there on time. Part of him feared what would happen if they didn't turn back that second, and he almost obeyed his gut feeling to do so. But the other part of him wouldn't allow that. It was the other part of Raijin that had kept him awake, that had kept the vehicle from being wrapped around a tree. It was the desire that was threatening to rip him apart if he didn't hurry things up, despite the drowning tears of the sky. And it was just that impulse that made his foot suddenly heavy and caused the car to lurch forward, waking a disgruntled, edgy Fujin. Awakened from her short lived moments of peacefulness, Fujin mustered up all the force in her and applyed it to the back of Raijin 's head. The car swerved, its driver far too preoccupied to think about the brand new paint job.

"Ow! Fuge, I'm driving, ya know." Raijin managed to get the car onto the dirt road, now a trailway of mud from the downpour.  
"IDIOT!" Fujin glared in his general direction. Mud was now splashing up shoulder height on either side of the vehicle.  
"I just figured that..."  
"NO." The man that was twice her size was silenced by the monosymbolic command. "I FIGURE. YOU DRIVE."  
He looked ahead at the road, but was determined to be heard. "But since we lost so much time getting out of the city if we went faster here we might..."  
"QUIET. DRIVE." And that was that. The car slowed down from the blur it had become, Fujin resumed her position of sleep, and after the pain in the back of his head numbed down, Raijin was able to commence his pondering once again.

His sleep was now pushed as far back in his mind as possible; nervous energy was running clear throughout his bloodstream. He looked over at his slumbering cousin and wondered how she could possibly not be as jumpy as he. Maybe he was haunting her dreams, as he was his awareness. As it stood, it would be a very long time, probably never, until he understood the inner workings of her mind. How she could go into a frenzy over speeding and sleep through their arrival, was a mystery that he didn't urge his simple mind to solve.

They had turned out to be pretty shitty friends, in Raijin's terms. After all of that rubbish, they had ended up with everything as normal, just how they had hoped from the beginning. The way things used to be. But how could they let themselves drift apart? They were all a group, a posse. His posse. How was it that they two had left him on his own, with that little slut? At the time it seemed that he had left them to their own devices, but now, when Raijin looked back on it, Fujin and him had allowed him to get on that last train to Dollet, and so, had left him. Over the last eight years, he had often wondered what had become of him, where he and Viora had ended up. 

Today he would catch up on old times, reminise, and get some answers. But not in some cozy apartment living room. The D-Distric Prison visitor section for felons in for life without parole. 


	2. The Royal Family

~*Woo, that was a rather long break. Kay. Thanks so much for reviews. Sorry to say but only very few chapters will be Raijin POV. :( Don't worry though, there will be others. Not much happens in this chapter, sorry to say, but sets up the life style that my two favorite people are living, and it gets a little more, dramatic later on. Well, since it will be a rather long time until you see another chapter yet, congratulate me now on my acceptance into La Guardia's voice and instrumental program, (you are only vaguely impressed if you live in NYC,) and as is the case with me...Don't hold back your fury! Flame me if you like!*~

The night before, he had gone to sleep with her beside him, and that morning he woke to the ringing of their bedside alarm, and she was still there. This general pattern had been happening for eleven years now, since they were "official." She pulled the covers over her head and groaned. She was exuasted from yesterday. Who had ever thought dealing with a birthday clown could possibly be so stressful? He hit the annoying little sound box and stroked her finger where it gripped the white comforter. She made a very odd noise and turned the other way, hiding from the intruder.

He spoke softly into her ear. "Honey, wake up."  
She "mphed," and bade him to go away.  
He smiled wickedly and began humming the happy birthday song at her. She immediately sprung out of the bed and headed for the bathroom for her morning mantinence. Squall headed downstairs to Diamond's room.

The blinds opened and morning sun streamed across the girl's face. She put her hand over her eyes and faced the wall, hoping to get at least two seconds more of sleep.  
"Oh Princess Diamond, another sun has risen over your magical kingdom." He sat by her bedside. She turned and looked up at him.  
"I'm tired, King Daddy."  
Squall smiled down at her. "But today is a royal holiday." He removed her pink blankets and she sprawled out on the bed, stretching away her tiredness.  
"Guess what," she yawned, "today's date is."  
Squall looked up in mock contemplation. "I believe it is April the 27th, your highness."  
She childishly returned his smile. "And I'm gonna be four!"  
He effortlessly lifted her and planted the small child on her feet. He began herding her downstairs for breakfast. "And four is a big big number. My little princess is turning into such a big girl!" She sat down at the kitchen table, patiently awaiting her cereal. Her sleep was long forgotten and replaced with joy.  
"What're we gonna do today to celbwate?" She had asked this question about a hundred times over the course of the week, but expanded her vocabulary by one very big person word: celebrate.  
Squall acted like this was the first time this thought had been brought to him. "Well," the fridge opened and he took out a quart of milk, "first everybody at school's going to sing to you," she happily bounced in her seat, "then Mommy and I are gonna take you and your friends home to have a party!"  
Diamond was still as much in awe as she had been. "What are we going to do at the party, Daddy?" Squall deposited her breakfast ingredients before her and she began pouring.  
"Well, you guys are gonna play fun fun games," the little girl dreamily looked up at him through a bite of sugary goodness, "we're gonna eat real good food,"   
"VERY GOOD FOOD!" Rinoa corrected from upstairs.   
Squall ignored his error, "And guess who's gonna stop by and visit?"   
Her eyes widened. He hadn't mentioned any visitors before. "Who?" Milk and grain sputtered before her and Squall happily napkined it up.  
"Uncle Zell, Unlce Irvine and Aunt Selphie!"  
The little girl swallowed. "Wow!"  
Squall happily smiled at her. "Finish your breakfast."  
She began shoveling food into her small face. Squall looked on in adoration that he couldn't possibly put into words. She wiped her mouth with a napkin, (a habit which Rinoa spent months embedding into her brain,) and smacked her lips. "Ready!"  
"Okey dokey, then." He swept her into his arms and carried her up the stairs. He left her by her room as he went upstairs for his own shower. Rinoa was already dressed.

"Squall, if we don't stop talking to her like a bunch of illiterates she'll never learn how to speak well." He continued into the bathroom.   
"Rinoa, she's a smart kid. She started talking when she wasn't even..."  
"Yeah, I know that, but you know she learns stuff from us. If we don't use correct grammar she won't either."  
Squall, clearly annoyed at where the conversation was going, turned on the water. Rinoa continued talking but dropped the subject.  
"Did you get in touch with a baby sitter?"  
He lathered up his shampoo. "Yeah, they're sending someone over at eight."  
Rinoa was almost as excited as her daughter. "So we're going out?"  
Squall answered affirmatively. The youthful woman smiled happily to herself. "This is gonna be great. And Squall?"  
"Yes, honey?" The water shut off and the man stepped out of the shower. Squall came out, wrapped in a white towel.  
She coyly smiled at him. "I'll give her a Benadryl before bed."  
He smiled back at her and they briefly kissed.   
"MOMMY!" Diamond called from her room.  
Rinoa yelled back as she made her way down the hall. "Yes, dear?"  
"I CAN'T FIND THE RED DRESS!"

Squall's smile remained firmly planted on his face and began dressing into his SeeD uniform. He happily thought, realizing he only had a year and a half longer of SeeDship. He was planning on retiring once he was too old to serve Garden anymore. Lately, though, he had been considering being a fulltime instructor. He would probably still be allowed to teach field lessons, and there was no reason why he should stop working when he didn't have to.

Rinoa had expressed interests of being a full time mother, and though she was the sweetest, most loving person in his life, he couldn't see her giving up all the excitement of battle. They had both pre-determined that even though their proffessions may make it seem impossible, Diamond would be raised far away from war and fighting, and grow up to be an academic. even an artist of some sort. They would walk through fire for their daughter, and he somehow knew that the feeling was mutual, that Diamond loved her two parents more than anyone in the world.

"SQUALL, LET'S GET GOING." There was constant yelling in their two story house, and he always thought it would be more practical to move to a smaller place, there were so little of them. He comically mused what it would be like to raise a family in a Garden dormitory. He buttoned his sleeves as he walked to the front door to meet his family, drop of Diamond at day care, and spend a half day, (he was leaving early for the special occasion) teaching the special SeeDs.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rinoa learned that containing eight small children in a car for a twenty minute drive was hazardous to both mental and physical health. She had to get a little fresh; the peek-a-boo was just plain old dangerous. She promised Diamond after they got out of the car that she wouldn't be such a meany for the rest of the day and they set of to the greatest birthday party they had ever prepared.

They started the festivities in Balamb's public park. The children were enjoying the spring sun as they ran around, and Uncle Zell was enjoying the barbacue he had hauled all the way from his home in Esthar. An almost unlimited amount of hotdogs was all he needed in life, as far as he was concerned. Squall and Rinoa supervised.They had found that children were magnetically attrackted to dangerous situations and had to step in if one tread a little closer to the pond then wise, or found themself wandering too far away.

Selphie, Irvine and Zell had actually attended to keep Squall and Rinoa a little company, but they were also magnets for children, and were often forced by a bunch of three and four year olds to participate in a game of tag, usually as a walking base for the added challenge. One little boy was highly amused with trying to swing from Irvine's hair, and Rinoa was absolutely beside herself with laughter everytime he jumped up and grabbed hold of his long tresses. Squall also found a lighthearted enjoyment at his antics.

After they returned to the house, ate their cake, opened presents, and bid farewell to their guests, the three Leonhearts had a little time together, and watched a movie of Diamond's choice. The baby sitter arrived fairly on time, Rinoa instructed her to give her small daughter a Benadryl before bed, and they were off to a night out, for once. It had been a long time. 


	3. Just Stay Close To Me

~*Weeelllll, I don't have much to say except that the lack of reviews is quite upsetting at best. Oh well. Next chapter! Please review! And as you may have guessed, I am a supporter of free speach. Flames are quite welcome.*~

The evening started out perfectly. After a great dinner at a small Balamb cafe, Squall and Rinoa were off to see a movie, an event which hadn't occurred since the eighth month of Rinoa's pregnancy four years earlier. Once inside, the two didn't feel 28 at all, but 17, and acted accordingly. A janitor stared at them as he passed, but they didn't really pay attention to him.

A chance encounter with Nida, a long chat, and several drinks later, it was suddenly midnight and they decided to head home and take advantage of the Benedryl's affect on their small child. A slightly tipsy couple entered their house and made their way up the stairs, feverently kissing all the way.

Rinoa lit a candle on the bedstand and rejoined her husband in more passionate kissing. They undressed each other, and were completely unaware of a jealous onlooker, sitting in a tree outside their window. Once they had layed down and were invisible to him, he blindly found his way to the hotel, where he lived.

Seven years ago, after his girlfriend died, there was man named Seifer who sought to start his life over, for the second time in his 21 years. He traveled all over Gaea, meeting no one, forming no attachments. After six and a half years of wandering aimlessly, he was drawn to Balamb, where he had been raised. He found work as a custodian at Balamb hotel and lived in it's small staff quarters, working nights at the movie theatre.

For the first time in a very long time, he had seen people that he recognized. He expected he would, but not under the particular circumstances. Bitter that anyone else should be happy when he was perpetually miserable, he followed them all night, and they led him back to their house. Watching them fueled his rage even more, and he felt that he needed to do now, what he had been plotting for years.

Under his miniscule bed, he kept a case with his gunblade, which had been long since abondoned. He picked it up, and was amazed to find out how familiar it felt, that the curves of the handle fit perfectly to the curves of his gripped hand. The blade was tarnished and he decided to polish it, though he knew all too well how dirty it would be in a few minutes. The disgusting smell of polish filled his nostrils and he gagged. He pushed the case back under the bed, and with his newly rediscovered friend, made his way back to the Leonheart home.

In their haste to get upstairs, Squall and Rinoa had forgotten to lock the door, making Seifer's entrance far too easy. Silently as a cat, he krept up the stairs. A sweaty palm turned the door knob and revealed two people, lovers, sleeping happily, dreaming of their picture perfect life. He felt nothing but the anticipation of promised satisfaction as he soundlessly advanced towards the woman on the bed and gored her through her stomach. Her gasp roused her husband to wakefullness, who needed a second to process what had happened.

Seifer came out of his crazed state just as Squall recovered from his shock, and in a surge of emotion, Squall swung his gunblade at the intruder and cut his hand very deeply, causing him to release his weapon. He sank to the floor and nursed his injured body part, while Squall attended to Rinoa, who had become very pale. He grabbed a tissue and wiped the blood from her mouth.

She tried to talk to him. "Squa.."  
He shushed her and told her to save her strength. With trembling hands, he reached for the phone.

_"You have reached Balamb Garden. If you know your party's extension, please dial it now."  
_After years as an instructor, one learns Dr. Kadawoki's extension. He dialed.  
_"One moment, please."_ Squall wondered if this process could possibly take any longer. He gripped Rinoa's hand, trying to keep her with him for as long as possible.  
A tired voice issued from the phone. _"Dr. Kadawoki's office."_  
"Put on her on the damn phone."  
_"I'm sorry sir, she isn't availible right now. Is this an emergency?"  
_"MY WIFE'S FUCKING DIEING! PUT ON HER THE PHONE!"  
_"Excuse me." _The patter of running feet was audible from over the phone. A minute or so later, Dr. Kadawoki picked up.  
_"Hello, who is this?"  
_"It's Squall. Seifer..."  
_"Give me ten minutes. In the mean time, get some potions and curagas. I'm on my way."_ Click.  
Squall hung up the phone and looked from a dieing Rinoa to a cringing Seifer, wondering why things had to happen this way. He looked back at the woman who meant the entire world to him, and pressed her hand to his mouth, allowing one tear to trickle from his eye.

Seifer was on the floor, sucking at his hand like a beast. He had been cut deeply, and cursed himself for choosing Rinoa as his first target. He should've killed Squall. He cast a Cura on his wound, attracting Squall's attention. The lion, who was now strangley subdued, cast a Slow on the tresspasser so he could quickly retrieve his potions without the fear of further harm coming to his angel. They were now alone.

Rinoa caughed up more blood, and Seifer slowly turned his head towards her, his reflexes greatly impaired by the effect of the magic.  
"My daughter turned four today." Her hands were soaked in her own crimson fluid.  
Seifer's mind was racing while his body could barely move. "I'm sorry you had to do this to us," was all he could manage.  
There was a lot she wanted to say, but was far to weak. She was losing blood quickly. She could only reply, "Me too."  
They were silent for awhile. "Who's fault is this?"  
Rinoa had no want to answer that question, and thankfully, Squall returned with the potins. She gladly accepted the silvery fluid into her bloodstained mouth. It did very little change to her situation, when it should have been more than enough.

The front door was kicked in, and shortly after, Dr. Kadawoki accompanied by five SeeD cadets entered the bed room. Three cadets held Seifer, while Dr. Kadawoki and the remaining students began to set up for Rinoa's cure. She cast a Curaga to tide her over. The Doctor cast every curative magic she had equipped, and the wound finally closed up. She had used all her plasma, but it still didn't replace nearly as much blood as she had lost. She did one last check on her vitals, and knew it was useless. She was fading fast, and the only thing she could do was let the two be alone for awhile. They withdrew from the room.

The mouisture from Squall's eyes was less sparatic. He kissed Rinoa's fingers as they tightly gripped his hand. She was so pale. Her breathing required such effort that it was painful for him to look. She reached up her free hand and brushed a stray piece of hair from Squall's forehead. Her tears were starting to come as well.

"Why?" she started to say. "I'm so scared."  
"Just stay close to me."

Her hand around his loosened, and she was gone. 


	4. Winhill's Mourning

~*You know, I'm not even gonna say anything anymore at the beginning of my chapters until you folks start saying stuff to me. All I want to say is fuck this crappy ass internet, fuck my bitch mother, and enjoy the story if you are reading, and by the way, REVIEW!*~

Her caretaker of two years had gone out grocery shopping, and Quistis was left alone. She had long since stopped vomiting foreign substances and it was safe to leave her for short periods. With more effort than normal, she sat up and carefully placed her legs over the side of the bed. Gently and slowly, she slid forward until her feet were touching the ground. Little by little, she transferred her weight onto her legs, which felt so strange to be beneath her. When she ever left the bed during her recovery, it was because Ellone was wheeling her to the bathroom.

Now, she was attempting to stand on her own two feet. She leaned onto her right arm, against the coffee table. She was up, but could feel her legs buckling. She knew she would fall right to the floor should she let go. Tired, and accepting that she would go no further for that day, she sat back down on the bed. Her weary legs were relieved, but Quistis was restless, and longed to be reunited with her friends.

As soon as she was finished unloading the groceries, Ellone came back upstairs. "How're we feeling today?"  
Quistis lied all the way down. "I tried to stand up."  
At this, Ellone sat down and examined her calves. "If you keep up with the physical therapy, I think you may be able to by the end of the week, with a cane of course. You're gonna have to relearn how to walk."  
She pushed her legs back under the covers and decided to find something else to talk about, when she remembered something. "Oh my God! We forgot to call Diamond!"  
"Well, I suppose we could do it now." She reached over to the phone and dialed Squall's number. Voice mail. "Hm, that's strange," she said.  
"They're probably at work..." Quistis replied, somewhat whistfully.  
"Oh, hush," replied Ellone. "I predict that within the next two months, you'll be back in fighting condition." The doorbell rang, and interupted her. She returned back upstairs with a telegram.  
"Who's it from?" inquired Quistis.  
Ellone turned it around and looked at the seal. "Balamb Garden." She opened it, and started mouthing the words to herself, leaving Quistis anxious and very freaked when she suddenly burst into tears. She dropped the note on the bed for her to read, and then they were both sobbing into each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours had passed, and the two women were both feeling very dead inside from the excessive crying. They were both sitting on the bed, each with a hot drink, when Ellone thought of something.  
"What's gonna happen to Seifer?" Without another word, she connected Quistis to him, so they could both learn his fate. 

_He was in a large room in the MD levels, which had over time become Balamb's courtroom. A small committee of people, including Cid, Dr. Kadawoki, and one of the SeeDs that had arrested him, sat opposite of him. A man in a higher chair spoke._

_"Mr. Almasy, SeeD found you at the scene of a murder."  
"Yes, your honor."  
"Based on evidence provided by said SeeDs, Dr. Kadawoki, and Squall Leonheart, this court has decided to charge you with murder in the first degree. Do you deny these charges?"  
He briefly looked down at his feet and then back up at the judge. "No, your honor."_

_From there, the man dismissed the court and several SeeDs cuffed him before shuffling him to a prison aircraft. He vaguely heard what was being explained to him, that he would be in this place for the rest of his life, and there would be no hope of ever leaving. He was barely even there.._


	5. Dancing Lights

~*Finally, ::exasperated gasp:: reviews. Even more updates on the way!*~

_The colored light was dancing all over the bar, streaking across people's backs on the stools and the quickly moving forms of the people on the dance floor. Seifer was the only person in the club who wasn't with someone else. He just sat by the bar, with a cigarette in his hand and a beer on the counter. The original plan was for Fujin and Raijin to be with him, but for one reason or another, they bailed. Seifer could have stayed with them, but he was simply determined not to have his plans ruined, no matter how little enjoyment he ended up getting out of it._

_He drank the last drops from his small necked bottle. When he put it down, he felt somebody sit next to him, and he turned to look. A woman, his age, had returned from the dance floor, her heart still racing with the excitement of movement. She signaled to the bar tender for a bottle of her own, and turned to meet Seifer's gaze. Her eyes were brilliantly blue, and they pulled him in from whatever boredom he had been feeling before._

_"Hey," she half talked, half laughed. She took a long drink. "You got a name?"  
"Seifer." The bar tender took away his old bottle and supplied a new one. "And you are?"  
She was just finishing another sip. "Viora. Aren't you burning up in that jacket?" She put her long brown hair up in a messy bun. She had average club attire on; a turquoise tube top that would have looked hideous on the wrong person and tight fitting jeans.  
"Well, I have been sitting here for half an hour drinking cold beer."  
Viora smiled and swallowed another mouthful of beer. She got up and grabbed hold of his arm. "Well, I think a little bit of dancing wouldn't hurt you."_

"Welcome to cellblock 05A, Almasy. Look at these walls. You will never see anything else for the rest of your life."  
Seifer followed behind a guard, carrying what little bed linens were provided and a toilet paper roll.  
The guard started talking, probably about something that would be pertinent during his stay, but he was far away, in his own world. Before he knew it, the guard had stopped walking, and they were standing in front of a door. He pressed some buttons on the wall that Seifer couldn't see, and the door opened up. He stepped somewhat tentatively inside. The guard stood leaning with his arms crossed in the doorway.  
"Your roomate's on leave for a funeral." He smirked to himself. Seifer stared right back at him, and his own smirk left that annoying, short, Galbadian uniform donned man in the dust. And he knew that his job had suddenly become much more interesting.  
Seifer simply turned away and began to make his bed. The guard left him to his ways.

After he had finished, he didn't have anything better to do than stare at the ceiling and think. He thought about his apartment in Dollet with Viora. He thought about her dark blue eyes and her long brown hair. They were so familiar in his mind, but so long ago and so far gone. She was long and sleek, in excellent condition. She knew nothing at all about his past, giving him a chance to start fresh. But he had chosen not to. Over the course of their three wonderful years together, he had told her just about everything. He learned about her, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cid looked down on the sea of students. He was glad that Irvine, Zell, and Selphie were right behind him, though he could easily tell that they were about to break down crying, and wasn't all that confident that they wouldn't. His sorrow was momentarily lifted; the junior classmen in the front row were so fidgety and full of life. Life was too short to be taken up by all these stupid assemblies. The focus of their gathering saddened him again, and he began to speak.

"We enter this assembly with a heavy heart." Selphie sniffed behind him, and he paused to let her regain her bearings. "One of our most talented and beloved instructors, Rinoa Leonheart, has passed away." He continued to speak over the impossibly loud crowd of talking students. "This is definitely unexpected, especially in these times of peace. Anyone who needs the day off to mourn, you are free to do so. You are also all invited to a special ceremony for Garden students and faculty, being held in her memory." He wasn't entirely sure that the students heard his announcement, but felt enough had been said. He turned around to see Selphie softly weeping on Irvine's shoulder. Cid continued towards the elevator, to go make a phone call. 


	6. Gwilkiln Siur

~*Lookie there, no reviews. Surprise, surprise.*~

  
  
_Everything was white. It hurt her eyes as she ran through it, looking for a break in the world, a way out of the white. It was so blinding that it almost seemed to buzz in her ears. There was nothing but her, no walls, no cieling, no end, yet somehow her shoes made echoes whenever they made contact with the white ground._

_She was becoming desperate and out of breath. Her head pounded with dizzyness, and she became disoriented in world with no direction but out, no destination but out. She knew she couldn't run anymore, and helplessly sat down on the cold, hard, white floor. This world was starting to make her sick. She could feel nausea creeping up on her, and concentrated on her pale but unwhite hand, feeling comforted by its presence._

_"Yire kyrlne siur." Edea knew the language, and it should have been friendly. She couldn't tell where the speaker was, though she got up and tried to follow the direction of the voice. "Plarnle orie yire gwilkin? Yire umnel ahkir trelne rendeor?"  
"Plarnle rendeor? Trelne irie rywin koja." Her head turned upwards; the endless up was laughing at her. "Poor soul, udaine siur. It's been so long since you've come to visit. You don't remember the toungue, you answer back in nonsense."  
"Urre icandor orywin sinenwa, per sinenwa trilni quarionklim herda yer urre."  
"You are not happy now that you have found them again?"  
She couldn't muster up the words to answer back in the farmiliar language of her mind. "I don't know who brings me these words now."  
The woman speaking to her chuckled. "Yes you do."._

Edea sat upright with a jolt, woken by the intruding ring of her bedside phone. She was sweaty and clammy from her unwelcomed dream, and still trembling with the shock of a sudden awakening, brought the phone to her ear.

"This is Edea Krammer, how may I help you?"  
_"It's me, dearest."_  
"Something is wrong. I went to the white world last night." She waited for her husband's brief silence.  
_"Rinoa is dead."_  
Edea had no immediate response until she took a moment. "Dear Hyne." She felt all the color leave her face. "Is Squall there? Can I speak with him?"  
_"He's with Diamond."_ They sat in silence for a while longer.  
Her legs were quivering, almost uncontrollably. "This wasn't some sort of accident, was it?"  
_"Seifer..."_  
"Oh God," she cut him off. "This is disgusting." She reached for a tissue; an onslaught of tears had started. "What is happening with everything? The world that I had hoped for all of them was working so well."  
_"I know. Everybody was supposed to be happy."_  
She sniffed. They said nothing for a few minutes. "I love you, darling."  
_"Good bye."_ The conversation had ended, and the day had to start despite the tragedy. 

The orphanage had almost doubled in size over the years. The old stone building had been restored, but more wings had been added to accamodate more orphans. She still ran it all by herself with only the help of a cook, and the task was stressful, even more so on a particulary horrible day as this. She rang the morning bell in the bell tower to wake the children, and set out the food that had been freshly prepared. 

Three children were in the room, and two immediately rose with the sound of the bell. One refused to move and stayed in the bed. The waken ones began whispering amongst themselves.  
"We can't. She'll go completely nuts on us."  
"But Matron said we all have to help each other and that included..."  
"Getting hit in the face? I don't really think so."  
"Okay, okay. But if we get in trouble for leaving her, don't run off and say it was my idea." They left the sleeping brunette to her dreams. 

One huge table sat everybody in the orphanage, and an empty chair was easily noticed. Edea was distracted with her sad thoughts and overlooked it. "Remember everybody who has loved you and say a prayer that they are happy right now. You can eat." Each child began to ravenously shove food down their throats, but Edea had no appetite and simply pushed her food around with her fork. One little boy started to cough and she looked up, but it wasn't a dramatic matter and was easily resolved. She did find this time, though, an vacant chair. Becoming furious, she quickly left an older looking girl in charge of all the orphans and stormed down to the east wing. 

"Jade!" Edea entered her room, and she changed her position to face the wall. "Get up this instant."  
"Go away," said the groggy voice of a young girl. "I feel sick."  
Edea wondered why children always bothered with that excuse. "Do you really want me to take your temprature?"  
The girl's face under her covers became slightly concerned, but she had the situation under the control. "No, it's just a belly ache."  
"Well then, I'm sure some food in your stomach will fix it. Get up right now, or you'll be spending your alone time with me for a whole week."  
She grumbled and sat up in her bed. Her brown hair was a mess, sticking up in places and clinging to her neck. She rubbed her emreld green eyes in an effort to wake herself up, and reached for a hair brush.  
"Breakfast is already out, and your meal is getting cold. You can do that later."  
Jade simply rolled her eyes and dragged her feet out the door that Edea held opened. She walked down the hall, Edea's angry footsteps close behind. 


End file.
